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I'm giving this fabulous genuine 1920s bangle away this week together with Mary from vintage blog We Heart Vintage. The competition closes on 24th December 2013 so make sure you head over and get your entry in! If you're looking for more fabulous 1920s vintage don't forget to check out my store I have lots of beautiful and rare 1920s vintage clothes, shoes accessories and jewelery.  Oh, and if you need some advice on getting that 1920s look spot-on, then I've written the perfect blog post to help you. Good luck!  

The 1920s is one of the most inspiring decades for wearing vintage fashion. Not only does it feel really special to wear genuine 1920s vintage, the fashions of the Roaring Twenties were just so stylish! Here's my guide to what to wear and how to wear it for a 1920s day look and a 1920s flapper-style evening look. So get inspired by Gatsby and Downton Abbey and embrace your inner flapper! 1920s Daywear: Day dresses were longer than typical flapper dresses and often had pretty delicate prints. Popular features were sailor collars and a straight shape with a dropped waist.     See more 1920s dresses here Any bright young thing worth her salt would be wearing a cloche hat during the day (a close-fitting bell-shaped hat). These could be plain or as fancy as you liked - just look around and find something you adore! See more vintage 1920s hats Evening Wear: A Flapper Dress A common misconception is that flapper dresses were bottom-skimming mini-dresses. It was only really in the 1960s that dresses became this short (unless you were a showgirl or an actress). Flapper dresses were generally risqué in different ways. They often featured mesh panels, beading, lace and fringing which were revealing when you were busy dancing the Charleston. They are generally drop-waisted and can be as embellished and beautiful as you can imagine!     See more 1920s dresses here Accessories: If you get the accessories right, it will really make the whole outfit 'pop'. For evening long strings of beads were really popular and also stacks of bangles worn high up on the arm. Pearls were popular but also new materials like Bakelite in bright and beautiful colours.     See more vintage 1920s jewelry here Bags were small and fancy, sometimes beaded, sometimes metallic but always tiny and beautiful.   See more genuine 1920s vintage bags here Shoes: Don't fall into the same trap that fancy dress shops seem to - very high heels just weren't worn in the 1920s. Go for a medium or low heel with a Mary-Jane style strap and spool heels (hourglass shaped heels which are wider at the top and bottom of the heel and narrower in the middle). See more genuine 1920s shoes here  

What can we tempt you with in our fabulous Flash Sale on coats and furs? Today (Thursday 12/12/2013) only! 1930s and earlier 1940s and 1950s 1960s and 1970s 1980s and newer Designer coats Fur coats DON'T FORGET, the flash sale is for TODAY ONLY! Just use coupon code: MINKME at the checkout!

I recently had a super fun shopping trip to Hawaii and uncovered some great little treasures in vintage and thrift stores in Honolulu, in Maui and on the Island Of Hawaii. Here are a couple great Hawaiian shirts that I picked up on that little trip: [caption id="attachment_469" align="alignnone" width="500"] Mens Vintage Hawaiian Shirt Rayon Tahiti Label 1950s L Tiki Hula Made in Japan[/caption] Platos Closet in Honolulu One thing I regret was not having the time to check out these vintage clothing stores in Honolulu- Spark, Barrio Vintage, and Baileys Antiques and Aloha Shirts.Maybe next time! The only store I was actually able to visit in Honolulu was called Platos Closet (where I also did a parking lot buy you won't believe!). In the store itself, we found neat clean racks of clothing, well-organized into sizes and colors.  There were men's, women's, but alas mostly very young people’s clothes. The most interesting thing I noted was all the shoes had 4-5" heels and well, I was wondering exactly *who*they were catering to! There wasn't any women's or men's vintage clothing to be found. However, I did discover an amazing pair of blue patent croc wedges with 5" heels, IN THE BOX, never worn, from Jeffery Campbell-what a find! Also, a great pair of Tony Lama ostrich cowboy boots - very cool! But the best thing I found was a nice young woman who came into the store to sell her Jimmy Choo shoes, that were refused because the heels weren't HIGH enough! I did what any self respecting vintage dealer world do - I said, "I'll take them!"- or did I scream that? I can't remember. At any rate, I bought them, and a bunch of other designer things from the trunk of her car, in the dark, in Honolulu, Hawaii. Super fun night! [caption id="attachment_178" align="alignnone" width="550"] The Jimmy Choo shoes![/caption] LeRu Atelier in Maui In Maui, we shopped a really cute vintage/modern designer boutique called LeRu Atelier, at 505 Front St  # 203 in Lahaina , Maui, Hawaii.  It was a true boutique - cozy, with a smattering of vintage items and the owners own design pieces, which were gorgeous. Larissa Williams, who was a stylist to the stars and a model to boot,is the owner and designer. The *shop girl* (Bonnie Paterson as in the photo) was incredibly helpful and cheerful, allowing us to try a number of things on my model friend, Amber, who by the way is a fantastic travel photographer (Ambra, International Freelance Photographer). In these photos she is wearing a super black and white striped silk  tunic from Pauline Trigere, 1970s. Of course, I promptly purchased it for my online store at www.thebestvintageclothing.com-coming soon, I promise! She then put on a fabulous vintage Mui  Mui hot pants suit, in bright blue and white-- it’s very "Pink ", don't you think? The red awning striped dress is the owner Larissa Williams’ very own design and Amber would have bought it had she just had the budget for it, because it looked fantastic on her! It was made of scarf silk and light as a feather. It was really reasonably priced, too. I highly recommend this store when you visit Lahaina on Maui. Glass from the Past - Honomu, Big Island The last store we visited was on the way to Volcanoes National Park in Honomu. The shop, Glass from the Past, had a vast array of Hawaiian men's shirts from all eras. They even had one made out of old 1940s black floral drapery fabric - that was a first for me! The store had lots of old glass bottles and all kinds of interesting odds and ends along with a bit vintage clothing. There were some good buys on the vintage front but I had to be picky due to lack of suit case space on this last day. I did buy 2 nice Hawaiian shirts , rayon prints from the 1940-50s and a pair of Britannia jeans with the tags still on from the 1970s. Britannia started making jeans in the mid 1970s ( I think) so maybe these were the earliest - let's hope!  The store owner, David Ackerman  was very nice, very helpful and gave me a really generous discount. I'd definitely pop into Glass from the Past and check it out once in a while for his latest finds. Hawaii was on place I didn't expect to find great vintage clothing. I didn’t have time to shop the many great vintage stores there, but I hope you enjoyed a little vintage shopping vicariously through me for now!   Photos courtesy of: Ambra, International Freelance Photographer

It's 'Black Friday' today and to celebrate the start of the seasonal rush we're offering a massive 25% discount across the whole store. The discount is valid until midnight on Monday 2nd December, just enter the discount code BF13! Get shopping everyone!

Thanks so much to everyone who entered our competitions in the last week! We've got 2 winners to announce today. First, our Facebook competition: I'm delighted to announce that the winner of the competition we ran with We Heart Vintage for the gorgeous Vintage 1950s bracelet is: Anita Roberts. Anita chose this gorgeous Vintage Chinchilla Fur Hat, Scarf and Muff Set as her favourite item from our store. You have a great sense of style Anita! We'll be in touch via Facebook to arrange delivery of your prize!   And the winner of our Twitter competition is: We also offered the very pretty Vintage Kitty Cat Brooch as part of our Twitter competition. We had lots of entries, and I'm delighted to say our winner is: Kathleen Doran who chose these vintage 14kt gold Claddagh earrings as her favourite item. If you didn't win then don't fret, we're launching a new competition on FRIDAY, so don't forget to check back! Don't forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter so you don't miss out!  

There are so many amazing styles of party dress from the 1950s: Not least the wiggle dress (made famous by Marilyn Monroe), the fit and flare dress (think Christian Dior's 'New Look') and the bubble dress. The Wiggle Dress: The wiggle dress is exactly what it sounds like - a dress which makes you wiggle when you walk! The key thing to know about a wiggle dress is that the hem of the dress is narrower than the hips. Marilyn Monroe was famous for wearing wiggle dresses, and boy did she know how to work one to its full potential! See our full range of 1950s dresses here. The Circle Skirt Dress If you're looking for full-out glamor, a circle skirt evening dress will certainly deliver that for you. Add full petticoats underneath if you want to boost the size of the skirt! See our full range of 1950s dresses here. [caption id="attachment_473" align="alignnone" width="510"] VINTAGE 1940S DRESS HALTER GOWN NAVY BLUE TAFFETA CIRCLE SKIRT SMALL 32-26-FREE[/caption] Fit and Flare: The fit and flare dress is the classic 1950s silhouette with a fitted narrow waist and flared skirt. It is an elegant and flattering style. See our full range of 1950s dresses here. Bubble Dress The bubble dress is a mixture of a wiggle dress, with its narrow hem, and a full-skirted ball gown. See our full range of 1950s dresses here. [caption id="attachment_474" align="alignnone" width="480"] VINTAGE VELVET, EMERALD & COPPER IRIDESCENT TAFFETA BUBBLE DRESS 1940S 34-24-FREE[/caption] The Sheath Dress A sheath, or column dress is sleek, elegant and long. Very chic! Kitten heels please! Don't forget, if you want to get a great 1950s look then discard those chunky shoes or mega high heels, go for elegant low-heeled stilettos or kitten heels with pointed toes. See our full range of vintage 1950s shoes here. Accessorize Once you've got your basic outfit, it's the accessories which really finish off the look. Add some short lace gloves, or long evening gloves, a box handbag or satin clutch and a fur wrap, and if you really want to complete your outfit get yourself a beautiful 1950s cocktail hat too! See our full range of vintage jewelry and accessories here.   [caption id="attachment_475" align="alignnone" width="480"] VINTAGE FUR STOLE DARK BROWN NATURAL RANCH MINK FUR STOLE TOP QUALITY 1950S[/caption]  

Isn't this 1950s kitty cat brooch just gorgeous? It's studded with sparkly rhinestones and emerald green eyes, and we're giving it away to 1 lucky reader! How to enter: So, how to you win yourself this beautiful vintage pin? All you need to do for your chance to win this fabulous prize is follow Miss Kitty on twitter and tweet your favourite item from our website. Don't forget to add the hashtag #MissKittyBrooch. Hope you win! Competition rules: Entries close at midnight on Monday 25th November 2013. The winner will be randomly selected. The competition is open to entrants worldwide. The brooch measures 1"” x 1 ½". The winner will be contacted via their twitter account about their prize, if they have not claimed their prize within 3 months of it being announced we are under no obligation to still offer the prize. This competition is also listed on: Loquax Competitions and ThePrizeFinder – UK Competitions

Just had to share our gorgeous ad as seen in Victorian Magazine last month! We are adding more and more Downton Abbey and Great Gatsby 1920s era clothing and accessories as fast as we can. Feel free to use the 15% off code in the ad.

New Give-Away at Chronically Vintage ( from The Best Vintage Clothing) We are being mentioned on the "Chronically Vintage" blog- we will be giving away a $50 gift certificate there in a few weeks, and I will update you as to when it actually starts. In the meantime, here's the nice mention we had along with a photo of the vintage sweetheart pins we *shamelessly* offered in exchange. Jessica can really put together some sweet vintage outfits! I love her blog too. Speaking of love, can we take a moment to chat about how seriously darling this great vintage novelty brooch (with matching earrings) from The Cat's Pajama's is? It's all kinds of cute, perfect for just about any vintage outfit you could dream up, and an especially fitting set to wear during the month (October) that houses our wedding anniversary. This set was very thoughtfully sent to me as a review product from Cat's Pajama's, and I sincerely adore it to pieces. I've always been a fan of vintage novelty brooches that link two pieces together by a wee piece of chain, and the fact that this brooch comes with a matching pair of (clip-on) earrings just makes me flip for it all the more. Talk about the perfect Valentine's Day vintage jewelry set if ever there was one!  (And speaking of The Cat's Pajama's/The Best Vintage Clothing , they're very kindly offering Chronically Vintage readers the chance to win an online gift certificate to their site in mid-November, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled for that great giveaway here in a couple of weeks). ( Photo courtesy of Antonio Cangiano (http://tonycangiano.com)